Red River Blue
Chapter 68
Harley flexed her body as much as she could given that she was perched in a tree, trying to keep her limbs from getting stiff. A quick look at the watch on her wrist reassured her that she wouldn't have much longer to wait. The waves of walkers had been coming at Alexandria in regular intervals throughout the entire day and during the night. Three hours had passed since the last wave that came in the early hours of the morning. So Harley was expecting the next one to sweep through anytime now.
They arranged a second barrier outside the gates. After the second wave they decided to stop using their guns and bows. Merle was worried that the walkers were being sent to deplete their stock of ammunition. If they were low on bullets and arrows, it would be harder for them to fend off an attack from another group. An attack he was certain was coming eventually. The problem with this was, fighting the dead hand to hand was physically exhausting. Bullets and metal tipped arrows weren't going to help them if they were too tired to fight. That's when Harley suggested that they blow the herds to pieces instead. They had plenty of homemade explosives, courtesy of Alexandria's resident Eu-genius. All Harley had to do was attach one of them to an arrow and shoot it into the middle of the next herd. She just needed to do it far enough away from town that the blast wouldn't draw more walkers in. Which was she was in a tree with her ass going numb.
"Here they come," Leah said, handing the scope she was peering through over to Harley so the girl could take a look for herself.
Right on time, a large mass of the dead were shuffling down the middle of the street towards Alexandria. The herd looked to be about the same size as the ones that came before it. Maybe a hundred or so of the dead. It made Harley wonder how many walkers the whisperers had at their disposal. And she considered her father's theory that Alpha was trying to run them out of ammo before her people attacked the town. That strategy could work both ways. She would have to run out of walkers eventually. And then they could attack her without fear of reprisal. Just the thought of it made Harley's pulse quicken.
"Don't light it too soon," Leah warned. Harley rolled her eyes and flicked the wheel on her small yellow bic.
"I know what I'm doing," she countered. Harley lit the fuse and took aim, firing her explosive into the chest of a walker that was dead center in the middle of the herd. Then she slapped her hands over her ears. A few of the walkers turned towards the noise. But Harley raised her brow as one of them turned the other way and started to run.
"A skin," Harley hissed, fighting the urge to leap down from the tree and take chase before the explosive even went off. And she was glad she didn't. The blast was bigger than she expected. The tree she was hiding in shook so hard she had to let go of her ears and grab a branch to steady herself. The entire herd was flattened. And the man that took off running was knocked down onto his face in the dirt near the roadside by the force of the blast.
Harley started whipping down out of the tree. Leah was doing the same. But she had a slight head start. They both surged at the man, who was struggling to his feet in an attempt to escape. The obvious move would be to capture the man and sweat him for information before they killed him. So Harley was a little shocked when she saw that Leah had her gun out and was aiming it at his head. Harley slammed into her just in time. The gun went off. But the bullet grazed the man's leg instead hitting him in the face.
"We need to take 'im alive," Harley barked. "He knows where Alpha's hoard is."
Leah nodded, reluctantly holstering her gun. The man she shot was holding his injured leg with one hand. And reaching for his knife with the other. Harley lifted her longbow, delivering a hard crack to his head that knocked him out cold.
"What the hell?," Daryl hollered, stabbing the few still wriggling walkers through their heads as he picked his way across the road. "Now we're gonna hafta carry his ass back ta town." And they would have to wait for him to wake up before they could question him. If the fucker could even remember anything at all after Harley practically smashed his damn head in.
"We can just radio back fer a horse," Harley argued. "Don't be so fuckin' dramatic."
"I'm not dramatic!," Daryl argued, the pitch of his voice rising to indicate the opposite of his words.
Leah started laughing and lifted her hand, attempting to cover her laughter with a fake cough. They were all exhausted enough to be getting on each other's nerves at the slightest provocation. And things seemed funnier than they actually were. Especially Daryl's uncharacteristic whining.
Aiden stomped his boot down on the skull of a walker as he pulled the radio off his belt. He had to buzz a few times before anyone answered. And he guessed it was because Olivia, who was manning the radio, had fallen asleep on the job. Harley and Daryl patted down their captive, checking him carefully for weapons before they fastened his hands behind his back.
They were only about a mile outside of town. But it still took about a half hour before River and Tyreese arrived with a wagon to transport them home. Even with their unconscious prisoner, they probably could have made it back to town faster than it took them to wait. But they were all too tired to even try.
After the captured whisperer was secure in a cell, Harley and Daryl both went home to get a few hours rest while the rest of the council gathered in the building next door to the holding cell to talk about how they planned to get information out of their prisoner. Since Lydia had the most knowledge about how her former group operated, River coaxed the girl out of the house so she could be included in the discussion. While everyone else was standing, they pulled a chair over for her. And in typical Lydia fashion, she was working her way through a jar of cinnamon applesauce as she listened to them talk.
"I mean we could just turn Negan loose on him," Rick suggested, rubbing his face with his hands. It seemed the easiest course of action. At least in Rick's opinion. Negan may have proven his loyalties were now to Alexandria. But trusting him didn't change that fact that he was capable of being brutal and inspiring fear in even the toughest of survivors.
"I'm fine with that," Carol agreed, pulling a bottle of pills from her pocket and tossing one of them down her throat. Merle eyed her with concern. But he didn't comment on Carol's dry pill swallowing. They had more pressing concerns at the moment than whatever the hell bullshit she was up to.
"I don't know," River countered. "That guy might say anything just to make him stop. And we'll have no idea if he's telling the truth or sending us to slaughter."
"You got a better idea?," Rick asked, ignoring the way Merle was scowling at him. He wasn't sure if the man was irritated because he suggested involving Negan. Or because he was contradicting Merle's wife. Probably both, Rick thought as he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back away from his face. He climbed into bed after the last wave of walkers, letting Monroe and Judith crowd in on either side of him. But with Harley outside of town and in possible danger, sleep didn't come easy to him despite how tired he was.
"Lydia," River said, making sure she had the girl's attention. "What do ya think? Is there any way we can turn him to our side?"
Lydia scraped a bite of applesauce out of her jar and spooned it into her mouth, glancing nervously around the room before she spoke. Corralling the guardians, her mother's name for walkers, was considered a prestigious job by whisperer standards. The man they captured was likely part of Alpha's inner circle. Lydia found it unlikely that he would turn on her. And she didn't think torturing him would get them anywhere. The only way they would get anything from him was if they could convince him that Alpha was a liar.
"Alpha has them convinced that good places like this don't exist anymore," Lydia explained. "If you could prove to him that's not true…"
"...then you think he might talk?," Rick finished. Lydia nodded. That was why she left. Because she realized her mother was a liar. That and Sam. But she tried not to think about him.
"If that doesn't work, y'all can always torture him after," River suggested. Since there didn't seem to be any objection to what she said, she added, "Who's going in there ta sweet talk that creep?" River glanced around, cursing under her breath when she realized everyone was looking at her.
"Maybe he'll take a look at yer knockers and confess," Merle teased, cringing back and laughing when River slapped his arm and told him to fuck off.
River was still grumbling curses under her breath as she headed down the steps that led to Alexandria's only holding cell. Since they usually just killed anyone that committed crimes against them, the place didn't get much use. The last person that they locked in it was Daryl. And that was just to keep him from hurting himself while he came down off his moonshine bender. Leah was guarding the cell. Not that the job entailed much on her part. She was sitting on the steps with her eyes closed, leaning her tired head against the wall. The tray of food River brought for their prisoner was in her hands, so she bumped Leah with the side of her foot to get her attention.
"Shit," the woman grumbled. "Didn't mean to actually fall asleep." Leah rose from the steps and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before she handed the cell key off to Merle. "I'm 'bout to go get some coffee," she said.
Merle nodded. He didn't think there was any coffee left anywhere. But she was welcome to see if she could rustle some up. Leah stopped halfway up the stairs, turning and pulling a small bottle of liquor out of her pocket. She set it on the tray in River's hands and shrugged.
"Maybe it'll loosen his tongue up a little," she offered before she continued on her search for a cup of coffee.
Carol glared at the woman as they passed each other, reminding herself that now was not the time. She sat down on the steps, moving over so that there was room for Lydia to sit next to her. Merle and Rick followed River down the stairs and into the narrow hallway. The man wasn't armed. But they still weren't going to let River get near him alone.
"Hi," River chirped, greeting the filthy man behind the bars. He was leaning back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. But the sound of River's girlish voice caught his attention, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and gazed curiously at her. "How's your leg?," River asked, smiling at the man even though he hadn't bothered to answer her question.
"I thought you might be hungry," she said, setting the tray of food down next to the man before she pulled the one chair in the room closer to him and sat in it. The food was the best she could whip up on such short notice. A fried egg sandwich with one of Lydia's oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert.
The man's eyes widened as he looked down at the tray. He cast a suspicious glance at River before he grabbed for the food. He crammed the cookie into his mouth first, washing it down with a large swing of water before he started on the sandwich. When he was done shoveling that down his throat, he gulped down all the water and chugged the small bottle of liquor that Leah offered up to help with the inquiry. River wasn't surprised by the man's ravenous appetite. His layers of baggy clothes did nothing to disguise his bony body. It was hard for her not to feel some pity for him. He looked like he hadn't eaten a solid meal since before the turn.
"I can get you more if you're still hungry," River offered. "We have plenty of food here." The man nodded, saying the first word anyone heard him speak since he was hauled in off the back of the wagon.
"More."
River turned, asking Rick to send someone for more food. She had no idea if he was actually going to do it or not. But to his credit, Rick walked away towards the stairs, giving the man the impression that he was.
"Maybe you could tell me your name while we wait?," River suggested, offering the filthy scarecrow of a man another pretty smile.
While some people obviously looked much better once they'd cleaned themselves up, River was quite sure that this man was ugly even before the turn. He had an almost nonexistent chin and patchy grayish blonde facial hair. His eyes were beady and his nose was the only prominent feature on his face. She doubted that he got much attention from women, even when he didn't smell like a dog that died inside a dirty sock. He reminded her of the men from the club, the really desperate ones that showed up every Friday and spent their entire paychecks paying women to pretend to like them.
"I'm Trixie," River said, using her old stage name instead of her real one. River wasn't sure why. She hadn't thought of that part of her life in years. It just felt oddly right to give this strange man a stage name. This was a performance, after all. River stuck out her hand for the man to shake. He stared at it for a moment like it was a snake that might bite him. And River could tell without looking that Merle was shifting nervously, just outside the open cell door, unhappy with the idea of this man touching any part of her.
"We don't have names," the man said, taking River's clean hand in his dirty one and grasping it.
"Everyone has a name," River said, giggling like the man just told the funniest joke she ever heard. "What did people call you before the outbreak?"
The man leaned forward slightly. And River shadowed his movements, leaning in like she was eager to hear a secret. The man's eyes roamed over her, lingering along the neckline of her shirt before he spoke.
"If we were out in the wild," he said, the corners of his mouth twisting up into a wicked grin. "...I'd take you like a bitch in heat."
River didn't even have time to react to the man's disgusting threat before she felt herself being yanked quickly away from him. Merle slammed his fist directly into the man's mouth, sending him flopping back down onto the cot. River darted out of the cell as Rick struggled to push Merle back. She had no desire to get in the middle of that struggle. Their prisoner laughed at them through a mouthful of blood.
"You're all weak!," he chortled, spraying blood out onto the cot. "You lie to yourselves and each other. You ignore the truth when it's staring you in the face. I WOULD NEVER BETRAY ALPHA! She loves us all! She sacrificed her own daughter for us! I'm willing to give my life for Alpha!"
River stepped back as Rick pulled Merle from the cell, slamming the door shut behind them. She watched as the nameless man that just threatened to rape her rose from his cot. Blood was still trickling from the corner of his open mouth. But he wasn't laughing. River followed his line of sight until she saw what startled the man that just claimed he wasn't scared to die. Lydia was standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the prisoner with her hand resting on the side of her swollen stomach.
"She lied to you," Lydia said. "She lied to all of us."
The man backed up, skirting around the cot until he was pressed against the cement wall. He stared at the young woman as if she was a ghost, unable to truly believe what his eyes were seeing. Lifting his hands, he twisted them together as if he was wringing out an invisible washcloth. The man began to mumble to himself, repeating the words like a prayer.
…We walk in darkness. We are free. We bathe in blood. We are free. We love nothing. We are free. We fear nothing. We are free. We embrace all death. We are free. This is the end of the world. Now is the end of the world…
"No," Lydia countered, moving forward until her hand was resting against the metal bars of the cell. "We're not free. You're her slave. And she lied to you."
The man moved forward towards the bars. River watched nervously, ready to pull Lydia back if he made any sudden moves. She didn't like how close he was getting. But there was an odd look of reverence in his expression. Like she was finally seeing the real man inside the monster. He fell to his knees in front of Lydia, looking up at her with an expression of wonder on his face.
"You're alive," he murmured. He lifted his hand, reaching towards the rounded swell of Lydia's stomach. And whether he intended to hurt her or not, Carol must have had more than she could take. Because she pulled Lydia back and stepped between her and the man. The man pulled his hand back, resting it in his lap as he turned his attention to River.
"My name was Jason," he admitted. "But my friends used to call me Jay."
With that, the man buried his face in his hands and began to weep. His skinny body shook with the intense force of his sobs. And the small group gathered outside his cell glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of the unexpected development. Merle ticked his head towards the stairs and began to corral everyone in that direction. They obviously needed to regroup to discuss their new strategy. And he didn't want to do it in front of their prisoner.
"I'm sorry I grabbed you," Carol said, giving Lydia an apologetic smile. "I was afraid he might hurt the baby." Lydia smiled back, tucking her hair behind her ears and casting her eyes downward. She knew the man wouldn't hurt her. Those people had been raising her since she was little. They were her family. But Carol didn't know that. And how protective her new family was of her always made Lydia feel good inside.
"It's okay," Lydia promised. When she looked up, she could see the look of sad longing in Carol's eyes. Carol was Sam's mom. And she was a good mom. Not like Alpha. Lydia rubbed her hand protectively over her stomach, trying not to imagine what Carol went through when her son died. And as the other people around them began to give their opinions on how to next approach the man they captured, Lydia slid closer to Carol. Taking the woman's hand, Lydia placed it gently on her stomach, adjusting it so Carol could feel the baby moving and kicking under the surface.
"Lemme go back down and talk ta him alone," River argued. "I won't go in the cell. I won't even get close."
Rick's nod of agreement was enough for River. She turned on her heel and headed back into the building they just exited despite her husband's loud objection. Merle cursed under his breath a few times before he took off after her. But by the time he got to the door, River was already on her way back outside.
"We got a problem," she exclaimed, pointing towards the stairs that led down into the holding area. "He's fuckin' dead."
With that, everyone except Lydia went flying into the building. Rick unlocked the cell and darted inside. He felt the man's throat for a pulse even though it was clear just from looking at him that there wouldn't be one to find. His beady eyes were rolled back in his head, revealing the whites. And there was still foamy vomit trickling out of the corner of his mouth into a small puddle on the floor next to his face. There were long red scratches down his throat that he'd obviously put there himself as he choked to death. Even with how dirty he was, Rick could tell that the tips of his fingers were nearly blue from lack of oxygen. And since there was no way he could have vomited if he was choking to death, there was only one thing Rick could think of that might have killed the man in such a way. Rick looked up at the rest of the group and gave his opinion on what happened.
"I think he was poisoned."